WhileHogwarts Legacykeeps smashing sales records, the most hardcore portion of its player base has taken to social media to debate whether the hit action-RPG also breaks establishedHarry Potterlore. The humorous, yet polarizing, discussion arrives days after Avalanche Software’s latest title debuted to rave reviews, withHogwarts Legacyalready being touted as the series' best-ever game.
Hogwarts Legacytakes place nearly a hundred years before the events of the hit book series. SinceHarry Potterlore before the 1800sis fairly well-established, the game’s choice of a setting was largely driven by the developer’s desire to have some creative freedom while still delivering an authentically familiar world. Many among the fandom have extensively debated whether a completely lore-friendly experience is even possible in the run-up to the game’s release, with that discourse still appearing far from over.
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Namely, a recent Reddit post that started out as a joking observation about how Harry Potter seems suspiciously oblivious to theHogwarts Legacyprotagonist’s “legendary exploits” turned out into a somewhat divisive discussion about how Avalanche Software’s latest RPG fits into theestablished Wizarding World. Within hours, the February 14 thread drew hundreds of responses from the series' fans, many of whom agreed with the notion that an “ancient magic-wielding” fifth-year student would have probably left some titular legacy had the game’s story not been written years after the books. One fan summarized this apparent narrative dissonance by jokingly dubbing the main character “they who REALLY must not be named.”
Another person facetiously theorized that the reason no one remembers the game’s 1899 events by the time the books take place has to do with the rate at which the protagonist is murdering the locals. “No one lived to tell the tale” by the time they finished school, the fan concluded. Yet not everyone joined in on the harmless jokes, with some fans arguing that Hermione surely knew about theHogwarts Legacyprotagonist, even if she never explicitly mentioned them during the original story. Others insisted that Ron was the likeliest of the famous trio to know about the game’s events, pointing to his fairly comprehensive knowledge of the Wizarding World compared to someone like Harry and Hermione who grew up in a Muggle home.
While fans of the franchise seemingly cannot agree on whetherHogwarts Legacybreaks establishedHarry Potterlore, most at least seem to concur that whatever narrative dissonance it possibly introduces to the Wizarding World hardly detracts from the overall experience. Ditto for the ARPG’s mainstream appeal, which is wide enough to even reachfirst-time gamers whoseHogwarts Legacystruggles start with stairs, not enemies or quests.
Hogwarts Legacyis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. PS4 and Xbox One ports are releasing April 4, whereas the Nintendo Switch version is arriving Jul 10, 2025.
